7 POST @ LIBERATION

One of the shareholders in Highway Production Ltd, set up to publish 7 POST, was the French property magnate Bruno Ledoux, who had acquired a major shareholding in the inconic leftist French newspaper LIBERATION.

An associate of 7 POST cofounder Jean-baptiste Pauchard, Ledoux placed spacious offices at Highway Production's disposal on the prestigious rue de Rivoli in central Paris in return for a third share in the London-based company. After the first experimental issues of 7 POST were distributed during Paris Fashion Week in September 2013 along with the 7 POST APP, plans to produce and distribute 7 POST in partnership with LIBERATION were proposed and dummy covers produced incorporating the newspaper's distinctive logo.

The editorial staff of LIBERATION's fashion supplement NEXT objected. Plans to replace NEXT with 7 POST were proposed as were plans to hand editorial control of NEXT to 7 POST founders and editors Jean-baptiste Pauchard and Prosper Keating. In September 2014, LIBERATION SARL and Highway Production Ltd signed a contract to produce LIBERATION and NEXT-branded versions of the 7 POST App, marketed by Highway Production under its iWay label.

Although LIBERATION SARL paid Highway Production Ltd in full, therebellious editorial staff disobeyed orders to collaborate with Highway Production Ltd and never supplied any content for the 3D and Augmented Reality application.

Bruno Ledoux

Tired of waiting for their partner to get a grip on his employees, Pauchard and Keating launched 7 POST in September 2014 with a world print exclusive of John Malkovich and Sandro Miller images. They would produce several issues, including the Men's and Art supplements before Highway Production shareholders including Ledoux attempted in July 2015 to remove Pauchard as CEO and take control of 7 POST and its smartphone and tablet application. The coup was unsuccessful for several reasons including the fact that 7 POST belonged to its founders rather than Highway Production.

Ledoux cancelled the company's Paris lease and sold his 31% shareholding for € 1, effectively destroying any Highway Production might have had. Before getting out of publishing altogether and back to property dealing, Ledoux arranged for the rebellious LIBERATION staff to be transferred from their beautiful central Paris offices to a drab suburban backwater as part of spending cuts deemed necessary for the newspaper's financial health. By then, 7 POST had ceased publication.